Chicago Poutine Fest: Restaurants to Vie for 'King of Poutine' Title

Decadent lobster poutine ($16) at the Boarding House, 720 N. Wells St., one of the participants in the inaugural Poutine Fest.
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Anthony Tahlier

CHICAGO — Tickets go on sale Friday for a city food fest that celebrates a "late-night fast food favorite" that actually comes from Canada: Poutine.

The second Poutine Fest, organizers said, will take place Feb. 23 at Haymarket Pub & Brewery, 773 W. Randolph St., and will feature craft beers along with Poutine, which is essentially French fries and cheese curds smothered in gravy.

Several Chicago restaurants will offer their take on the conocoction from Quebec in a fierce day-long battle to crown Chicago's "King of Poutine." Restaurants participating in the festival include: Haymarket Pub & Brewery, the Gage Downtown, the Barrelhouse Flat, Sunday Dinner, the Brixton, Red Door, Troquet, Le Bouchon and Green Door Tavern.

The event is broken down into two sessions: lunch, from 12-2 p.m. or dinner, from 4-6 p.m for General Admission. General Admission tickets cost $70 which includes 10 poutine tickets and an unspecified number of drink tickets. VIP tickets for the event cost $85 and allow an extra hour of drinking before general admission, 10 poutine tickets and an extra drink ticket.

A portion of the proceeds will benefit a "good cause,'' although organizers did not say what the cause was. Last year, the festival donated money to Common Threads.